1826 and The Island Bistro boast chefs with the coveted classification

The prestigious, though some say outdated and misguided, Michelin Guide may not rate restaurants in Miami, but that's ok. And Hakkasan, Zuma, Michael Mina and Daniel Boulud aren't the only Michelin-star recipients with outposts in Miami and South Florida. While you can pay $275k for a gluttonous trip around the globe to every Michelin starred restaurant, you can also just stay here, where a few new chefs, upon whom the coveted culinary celestial speck has been bestowed, currently or will soon enough work.

1826 Restaurant & Lounge, which isn't named for year of the founding of the American Temperance Society in Boston but for its Collins Avenue address, boasts "two Michelin starred chef Danny Grant," is a "Contemporary American" restaurant slated to open in 2014. Then there's Brickell Key's newish one, The Island Bistro, which has brought in Steven Rojas – "the youngest chef to have received a Michelin star in California when he was just 27 years old in 2008 – to apply his extensive restaurant knowledge to his new position as the Director of Operations." Rojas, who sort of flew under the radar at Georges Kitchen in Midtown, won't only be overseeing the staff but will also begin to offer weekly off-menu dishes that may find its place on the Spring 2014 menu. Thinking ahead, the owners of The Island Bistro are also looking at locations for a second restaurant in Miami "that will highlight Chef Rojas' signature European fare with an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients in 2014." The Island Bistro shares a zip code with two Forbes five star recipients, incidentally---NAOE and Azul.

While Michelin starred chefs serving contemporary, local, modern American fare are indeed impressive, we kind of like the idea tweeted out by Blue Collar's chef/owner Danny Serfer, who wrote, "Our next project will focus only on non seasonal, endangered, stuff and outdated techniques." Stellar.